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From: ralphw@ius2.cs.cmu.edu (Ralph Hyre)
Newsgroups: net.micro.apple
Subject: Apple //x
Message-ID: <346@ius2.cs.cmu.edu>
Date: Tue, 20-May-86 13:50:31 EDT
Article-I.D.: ius2.346
Posted: Tue May 20 13:50:31 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 24-May-86 01:42:24 EDT
Distribution: net
Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, CS/RI
Lines: 95

[from delphi mac digest]

>From: MOUSEKETEER (8207)
>Subject: Cortland???
>Date: 15-MAY 20:24 Hardware & Peripherals
> 
>(from Computer+Software News, May 12 issue)
> 
>Apple's 4 1/4 Mbyte Cortland to be most powerful pc yet
> 
>Apple's long awaited IIx, the vendor's most powerful pc, is set to
>debut this fall with a suggested retail of $1,600, Apple sources
>revealed. The unit, along with the Mac Plus, one of six CPU's Apple is
>expected to introduce this year, will pave the way for price cuts on
>the IIc and IIe, allowing Apple to dominate this year's Christmas
>selling season, dealers maintain. The IIx, code-named Rambo by Apple
>insiders, is better known as "Cortland" to domestic third-party
>developers and "Zeus" to international developers, sources said. The
>Cortland features 256K RAM, expandable to 4 1/4 Mbytes....features an
>upgraded 65C02 chip, the 16-bit 65816, enabling the unit to run three
>times faster than the IIc or IIe at 3.6 Mhz....built in networking and
>Appletalk, a detachable keyboard, four expansion slots and built-in
>color graphics like the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga.&.impressive
>sound.  The machine will reportedly be sold with unbundled drives,
>allowing users to configure units with hard disk drives. The article
>goes on to describe other Apple introductions expected in the next 12
>months, including an open-architecture Mac and VLSI IIe, the latter to
>be priced as low as $500 to schools.  Two other CPU's are still under
>development, it continues.  Compatibility or a "bridge" between the
>Cortland and Mac has not been decided, according to the story.  It
>appears that while a "bridge" between the Cortland and Mac already
>exists at Apple (as a 3.5" disk drive and converter box) it may not be
>marketed if Apple believes it's release would strip market sales from
>the Mac (though the article states that if Apple doesn't market the
>bridge, a third-party developer probably would).  Also, an IBM bridge
>is in the works for Cortland via a "small computer interface port".
>"Cortland was always intended to be Apple's most powerful product,
>insiders claim.  It has been upgraded and redesigned three times over
>the past three years.  The original machine and two of it's revisions
>are said to be the brainchild of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. The
>first unit was shown to dealers in 1983, as an 8-bit machine. Then, in
>April 1984, it was upgraded to a 16-bit, 256K RAM expandable to 1
>Mbyte - then to be the industry's first 1-Mbyte machine.  However, the
>unit never made it to market, allegedly triggering Wozniak's departure
>from Apple."
> 
>Alf
>

Sounds like an interesting machine, hopefully there will be a Mac-like
University discount program - I can get a Mac+ for $1500 and it includes
a monitor and disk drive.  Speed seems comparable to the current machines
equipped with 'accelerator' (6502C or 65C02C) cards.

Slots:
------
I could live with only four slots if the machine already has 2 serial ports,
real-time clock, and mouse interface built in.  Otherwise they're going
to need more slots.  Here's how I'd use the four slots:
1)	Expansion memory/bus expansion/experimentation
2)	Mass Storage: SCSI/CBUS/floppy controller
3)	80286 coprocessor
4)	68020 coprocessor

IBM did the 'right' thing for the AT bus with regard to PC compatibility.
Apple could do the same thing and put the extra signals for the //x (8 more
address lines, etc) on an edge connector next to the Apple ][ bus connector.

=//x portion of bus=   ==Apple ][ bus (50 pin)===  (4 of these?)

This will cause mechanical problems with some cards, especially the PCPI
AppliCard.  One can use the same solution for //e auxiliary cards.

=//e auxiliary slot (62 pin)==   ==//x appendage==

Of course, this could get ridiculous if Apple comes out with a 32bit // and
uses a 32bit bus.  I expect future development will concentrate on merging
Apple ][ and Mac product lines.
(Ever heard of the 310434 processor? [equals 65816+64180+68020+80386+32032]:-)


Software:
---------
No mention of multitasking - even something as crude as using each 64K bank
for an exising 'well-behaved' application would be useful.

This machine will have problems unless it is almost totally compatible with 
the ][+ and //e.  If Apple can combine Apple ][ compatibility, good graphics,
multitasking, and the potential for Mac and PC emulation (presumably with
68020 and 80[23]86 co-processors) then nothing will stop it.
-- 
					- Ralph W. Hyre, Jr.

Internet: ralphw@c.cs.cmu.edu		Phone: (412)CMU-BUGS